Random Thoughts While Waiting For Traffic To Clear At Levi’s Stadium: Circle Sept. 30 And Oct. 1 On Your Calendars

Here is the unedited “Director’s Cut” version of my column that will appear in Wednesday morning’s Mercury News and other Bay Area News Group newspapers . . .

Thoughts while stuck in Levi’s Stadium parking lot — where you can exit any time you like, but you can never leave . . .

 Calm down. The A’s and Giants will both make the playoffs. Pitching will do it.

 But here is your helpful calendar tip: The American League Wild Card Game is scheduled for Sept. 30. The National League Wild Card Game is October 1. Could easily be a Bay Area back-to-back. Be prepared to call in sick, depending on start times.

 Question I’m pondering, though: Let’s assume the Giants and A’s each get past the wild card game. Which has the best chance to do further damage? If only three starters are needed, has to be the A’s. Keep in mind that with four days between the wild card game and Game 3 of the AL division series, Jon Lester could make both those starts.

 On the other hand: Buster Posey’s face. It has that 2012 look again.

 I truly believed that the Raiders would be a better football team in 2014 because when I looked at their roster compared to recent seasons, I thought it finally looked like a NFL roster. I was right. It just turned out to be the Jacksonville Jaguars roster.

 Head coach Dennis Allen is not responsible for all of the Raiders’ problems. But he is responsible for making sure the team looks prepared to compete. Sunday against Houston, the Raiders looked more ready to tailgate.

 I always believe in following the revenue when it comes to predicting a coach’s future, especially when a team does not sell out on a regular basis. Next time the Raiders must fill seats at O.co Coliseum is Oct. 12, because of the road game at New England, the overseas London trip and a weekend off. If the Raiders don’t give their fans incentive to buy seats in those two televised games, you can also make it a “bye” week for Allen.

 The 49ers will survive their collapse against Chicago just fine, assuming quarterback Colin Kaepernick has no three-pick hangover. But the defense had better figure out a pass rush by Sept. 28 when Philadelphia visits. That’s a very good team.

 Reader Michael Campbell suggests Kaepernick’s problem Sunday was that when he stared down at his arm for the play calls, he somehow mistakenly read one of his tattoos instead.
 No, the Vikings should not be playing Adrian Peterson next Sunday. Teams can’t market themselves by saying they are “part of the community” and then put someone on the field who admits his idea of a good community includes a child being scarred on his private parts.

 Fans think they can influence NFL decisions with outrage on social media. They can’t. But they can stop drinking Budweiser. That’s why the most significant blowback (brewback?) from the Rice/Peterson stink could be the statement issued Tuesday by huge sponsor Anheuser-Busch saying it is “not yet satisfied with the league’s handling of behaviors that so clearly go against our own company culture and moral code.”

 Meanwhile, it is perfectly legitimate for the 49ers to take the stance that they believe defensive lineman Ray McDonald’s version of his domestic violence arrest, so they are not going to suspend him because they think no charges will be filed. Just wish someone with the team would say that publicly, rather than using the “due process” smokescreen. What if McDonald had been arrested for robbing the 49ers’ company safe but was pleading not guilty and out on bail? Would the team still play him?

 One sports organization happy to let the NFL dominate the ugly off-field news: NASCAR. Evidence in the Tony Stewart death-collision case went to the grand jury Tuesday.

 Still trying to figure out how the Sharks will make anyone but Joe Thornton the team captain. Can’t picture anyone else in the room overriding his persona and center of gravity.

 Happier hockey captain: Jonathan Cheechoo, the former Shark. He’s wearing the “C” for Dinamo Minsk of the KHL in Eastern Europe this season. In the Dinamo home opener, he had five points and a hat trick. Cheechoo is 34 now and never was a speedster, but when the NHL puts down the always-slow outdoor ice at Levi’s Stadium in February, could the Sharks bring him back as a special guest player? Please?

 I have a plan to avoid future Levi’s traffic jams, by the way. I’m going to rent one of those car-crushing Monster Trucks that are scheduled to appear there next year, and mash my way out to the freeway. Seriously, I just hope they get this thing solved by the time of Wrestlemania in March. You do not want to have The Undertaker get road rage. You don’t. HEAR ME? IF THAT HAPPENS, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!